Movie Reviews: An Unexpected Love and Tru Love

An Unexpected Love
March 2003
Lesbian/ bi?

An unhappily married housewife and mother of two children (Leslie Hope) separates from her husband and gets a new job where she develops a mutual attraction to her female boss (Wendy Crewson)

Whole movie is on youtube if you don’t mind Danish subtitles.
This movie apparently was produced and written for Lifetime TV. I don’t know if it ever showed on TV but if so, kudos to them. I don’t think I’ve seen a made for TV movie that specifically dealt with a lesbian relationship.

So… I really liked this story. Both actresses did a great job and it felt believable. Yes, it is the cliché of the unhappily married woman who unexpectedly finds herself attracted to a woman for the first time, but it was well written.

What I liked about it was that all the characters involved act how one would expect they’d act in this situation. Kate and her husband are mutually OK with splitting up, although her husband would be fine keeping the status quo. Kate has always wanted to be a wife and mother and that’s what she went for. They have a nice upper middle class existence, but Kate is just not happy and decides that she wants a more fulfilling life.

She ends up working for Mac at Mac’s real-estate agency. Mac is an out lesbian. Both women get closer as they work together and Kate finds herself attracted as more than a friend to Mac. Mac is very leery when Kate professes that attraction because, um, Kate is straight and Mac doesn’t want to be some straight woman’s experiment and she doesn’t want to be a straight women’s secret lover. Mac has lost the love of her life and is also reluctant to find someone knew.

While they dance around each other trying to work out both an attraction and mixed feelings about that attraction, Kate gets the guts up to tell her husband, children and best friend about her attraction to Mac, which goes over…not well…at first.

This movie is a kind of a sweet romance, but it also deals realistically with all the issues around homophobia, possible “gay for you” as Kate can’t really say she’s now a lesbian, and fear for glbt person being used as a fling. It also addresses certain stereotypes of what straight people think about gay relationships. I liked that it wasn’t cheesy, nor was this movie melodramatic. In fact, all the characters act rather maturely for this kind of situation, considering.

The only negative thing I will say is that it did come across as too insta love for me at first on Kate’s side. There is a nice build-up of a friendship between Kate and Mac, but those special things that would occur between two characters falling in love seemed missing. They are just normal, good friends one min and suddenly Kate is kissing Mac out of nowhere. I would have loved to see more sexual/ romantic nuance between the women before that first kiss. However, it is an HEA and still an enjoyable movie.

Heat level: 2-- semi naked, sweet sex scene
Grade: 4 stars

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Tru Love (Canadian)
2013
May/ Dec- lesbian/straight

A widow, recovering from the death of her husband, comes to the big city to spend time with her busy professional daughter. Instead, she forges an unlikely relationship with a commitment-phobic lesbian who has a past with her daughter.

I had watched A Perfect Ending, which I loved, about an older / younger women relationship. So I was attracted to Tru Love, hoping it would be as good for me as the other because it’s also is about an May/ Dec female relationship. Tru Love, while compared often to A Perfect Ending, is a very different film though, and can’t be compared really. Well not in story. I will compare it when it comes to personal feelings about May/ Dec love representations.

Maybe it was just my mood, but for most of it I felt a bit uncomfortable watching this. And while I just said Tru Love should not be compared to A Perfect Ending, what made that less uncomfortable for me was the fact that that relationship started out and is based on a business deal, so the lines are clear at the beginning and age difference wouldn’t be a factor in it. In this movie, it’s really about a love that develops between a 60 something woman with a late 30’s something woman.

For some reason, I felt a kind of dread throughout  most of the film mainly because I wasn’t sure I wanted to see these two characters actually fall in love and be intimate. And I’ll be honest in that probably my discomfort is that I’m an older woman myself and would feel weird being with a much younger woman like the one in this film. Although, actually, if I would put myself in the position of a younger woman attracted to an older one, that wouldn’t have made me feel uneasy at all.

Tru is a lesbian who seems to be fairly callous in her relationships with other women. She won’t commit to anyone and seems to have one night stands and brief relationships one after another, not even bothering to remember their names. Suzanne, one of those past women, asks Tru, who still has the key to that Suzanne’s house (side bar- I wonder how real it is that lesbians having brief affairs give each other keys to their houses after a few nights, which seemed to be the case in this movie), to let her visiting mom in. Suzanne is a lawyer and a workaholic.

Due to Suzanne never being home, Tru sort of entertains Alice, Suzanne’s mom. They like each other right away and start getting very close to the discomfort of Suzanne. On the one hand Suzanne is feeling a bit jealous of time her mom is spending with Tru, but on the other she won’t stop working. When she sees that Tru and her mom are getting a little too close she tries to thwart their relationship, which upsets both Tru and Alice, who think the other is avoiding.

As for Alice, her husband has died and for the first time she feels free to let go and enjoy life. The ghost of her husband is there and talks to her when she’s musing, so we get some background on what Alice’s life has been about.

Alice’s zest for life and enjoyment of Tru, and maybe also because she is an older woman who Tru relates differently to than women her own age, makes it easier for Tru to open up about her painful past. So we get to see why Tru is a commitment-phobe.

This story is just as much about a mother/ daughter relationship as an f/f relationship as tensions rise up between Alice and Suzanne about Tru. It also makes Suzanne confront her avoidance of any kind of a life outside of work. She’s very uptight and this cracks her shell.

So the crux of my discomfort is that I felt Tru and Alice connecting as two people might with that kind of age difference, but couldn’t see it entering into a more intimate thing, which it did. On the other hand, truly, I think I ended up liking this film because it does show that love and relationships between people can go beyond what society might deem appropriate or not. (between consenting adults) And I appreciate stories like this that go outside the box.

I’d definitely recommend this story if you’d be open to a May/Dec story with a much older woman.

Heat Level: 0 implied sex, no nudity

Grade: 4 Stars

Movie Reviews: Desert Hearts and Purple Sea

Desert Hearts
1985
Lesbian/ bi?/ May-Dec

It is 1950s Nevada, and Professor Vivian Bell arrives to get a divorce. She's unsatisfied with her marriage, and feels out of place at the ranch she stays on, she finds herself increasingly drawn to Cay Rivers, an open and self-assured lesbian, and the ranch owner's daughter. The emotions released by their developing intimacy, and Vivian's insecurities about her feelings towards Cay, are played out against a backdrop of rocky landscapes and country and western songs. 

- Written by Neil Lewis

This is a very sweet and touching love story and I loved this film. It’s also totally offbeat and not the usual kind of story outside of it being a lesbian story. For the time period it’s set in, it’s rather incredible that it was made as is. It doesn’t shy away from or act like being a lesbian is anything out of the norm, which I loved. I also thought it interesting to have an out lesbian in a story set in the 50’s. I guess if there was any place in the US that a woman could be somewhat open about being a lesbian in the 50’s, it could be Reno.

Vivien ends up on a ranch in Nevada, staying there until she can get a quickie divorce. It seems her lawyer has a package deal and this is why she’s there vs. a hotel in town. She’s a professor at Columbia University and doesn’t quite click with people at the ranch. She’s older, prim, quiet, rather uptight, thoughtful, and doesn’t really engage too much with the others. I didn’t blame her, they get on her case for putting on airs as it were.

She explains to her lawyer that while her marriage to another professor is OK and they get along, she feels something is missing and wants more out of life. She has no children and states he would not contest the divorce. It seems contradictory to her character as normally it’s a more passionate personality that would go to such huge lengths for a change. So she’s in a transition in her life although not really looking for any kind of excitement.

Cay is a young woman living on the ranch that her father’s long-time lover owns. She’s an out lesbian and is very outgoing. She works in a casino and is just living life, having brief affairs until “the one” shows up. She and Vivien start talking here and there and slowly they form a friendship. Vivien, while a bit embarrassed when she finds out Cay is a lesbian, surprisingly, doesn’t really judge her. And she’s curious about Cay and her life.

Other stuff going on is that the owner of the ranch, Frances, is a tough woman who feels threatened by Vivien and Cay’s relationship. Even though Cay is not her biological daughter, she thinks of her as such and as she sees Cay falling for Vivien, she gets jealous and causes problems. She sees Vivien as an interloper who’s trying to break up her only family.

What’s so lovely about this story is how actress Helen Shaver’s played Vivien. Cay, being young and brash, openly hits on Vivien. She’s attracted to Vivien in a way she’s not been with the others and feels Vivien could be “the one.” Vivien is a bit freaked out by it and keeps Cay at arm’s length even as she starts feeling something for her. Helen Shaver’s portrayal of a woman falling in love with another woman for the first time is amazing. She shows a deeply nuanced vulnerability and shyness when her character finally allows herself to be intimate with Cay. Both actresses made this story so believable and I felt they fell in love in a very natural, deep, and honest way.

One really good thing about this film is that it’s left off with a definite HFN. So often these lesbian movies leave off with some tragedy and sometimes you just want that the couple you rooted for to get together does and you’re left feeling good. And I liked that Vivien is the one who earnestly wants to keep exploring what they have together. So this is not a straight woman briefly falls for a lesbian then goes back to her life.

Definite recommend.

Heat level- 3-4 nude sex scene, beautifully done.

Grade: 5 Stars

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"Viola di mare" Purple Sea (Italian)
2009
Lesbian/ historical

Set in 19th century Sicily, Angela and Sara have been friends all their lives. But Angela isn't like other girls, she's fearless, and when she develops feeling for Sara she won't hide them. To maintain the forbidden relationship that blossoms between the two women, Angela disguise herself as a man. The two women challenge the rules of society in order to be together in this lush period romance.

Based on a true story

This was an amazing film. Loved it! It’s just gorgeous all around, with the setting and the women and how their love story develops.

I can’t speak for the truth in historical value, but it seemed spot on. The film starts out with the main characters as children, growing up on a small island in which the only industry is rock mining. Angela’s father is the foreman for all the workers on the Island and he’s a cruel, hard man who rules everyone, including his family, with an iron fist. Her father was pissed off that she was born a girl and has never forgiven her mother or her for that.

Sara is the daughter of a maid for the Baron who owns most of what’s on the island. They grow up playing with each other and the other kids of the quarry workers. Sara and Angela are best friends, always together, but Sara has to go to the mainland with her mother with the Baroness. Angela is shown waiting faithfully for Sara to come back.

Fast forward many years and both women are in their early 20’s. Sara comes back and they start their friendship up again. Only this time, Angela makes it clear pretty quickly that she’s in love with Sara and tells her she will marry her. At first Sara is a bit shocked, but quickly warms to that idea and falls in love with Angela as well.

I have to say that I really felt these two were in love. They have so much passion for each other, particularly Angela, who never wavers for a second.

Unfortunately, these two women are living in a place and time when their love is absolutely unacceptable. When Angela’s father tells her she will be married soon, she confesses she loves Sara and is locked up.

What happens after that is such a twist and I’m not sure it could have actually happened as it did, but the idea that it could and they could get away with it is interesting to think about.

Angela’s mother comes up with the idea to call in a favor from the priest and have Angela’s name changed on her birth certificate to say she’s a male. This allows her and Sara to marry. Although her father goes along with it and makes her now the foreman in his place because she is now a man, of course, many in the village don’t accept it and problems do arise, but they manage.



This is such a passionate story of love between two women. And even though not traditionally having an HEA, it’s still a beautiful, satisfying love story.

Heat level: 4- full on naked sex scenes – not done salaciously though

Rating: 5 Stars

Movie Reviews: Stud Life, Blue is the Warmest Color, Cloudburst

Stud Life (British)
2013
Lesbian Stud-Femme/ Gay

JJ is a hot black British 'Stud' Lesbian. Together with her best friend Seb, a white gay pretty boy, they work as wedding photographers and run around the urban London LGBT scene. When JJ falls in love with a beautiful and mysterious woman, JJ and Seb's friendship is tested. JJ is forced to choose between her hot new lover and her best friend.

This was a really good film. I think it’s not easy to find a lesbian film with black characters, but even more so, harder to find a film about a sub group within the lesbian community. I enjoyed it on every level and thought it an interesting mash up of types of characters.

So the blurb for this film is pretty much what the movie is about. It’s basically about these characters going through life as GLBT persons and trying to find love.

JJ and Seb make and interesting friendship. Both get on great and I felt the writers, filmmakers, and actors did an amazing job of making me believe that these two unlikely friends really do love each other and have each other’s backs.

Both JJ and Seb are having short, non-serious flings with others but no one is really sticking for either of them. And for Seb, a dorky, sensitive drug dealer, Smack Jack, keeps hitting on him, but Seb can’t stand him. Since they all hang out in the same circles they keep coming across each other and Seb finds there’s more to him than he first judged. In the meantime, Seb is sexting through the internet with other gay guys. He is rather a romantic though and wants to find a keeper.

JJ is a stud lesbian who finds herself attracted to a femme lesbian she met at that bar they all hang out in. What I loved here is that she is a stone butch/ stud and the movie really shows the relationship/sexual dynamics of a stone butch/femme relationship. Her girlfriend Elle wants to have sex and touch JJ but JJ really does keep in control. I liked that contrary to the “stud” reputation of being tough, she shows vulnerability when expressing to Elle that she will not allow sexual touching. She’s worried that Elle will not accept that. They do hug and cuddle a lot, which showed how they feel for each other. They both accept the conditions just to be close to each other. However, Elle has a secret that derails their relationship for a while. And it’s something that I felt made Elle a lot more human and vulnerable.

As the story progresses, the average day in these characters’ lives is expressed in all facets, including homophobic attacks on them, back biting within the GLBT community and the use of GLBT by straight people for kicks. And it also shows JJ and Seb just being friends going through issues with each other as lovers enter the picture.

It also has an assortment of entertaining, colorful side characters as JJ and Seb are shown photographing all kinds of events with all kinds of straight/ GLBT people.

Finally, there is a happy ending for both JJ and Seb and it’s a really sweet, satisfying, romantic movie. It’s definitely a movie for anyone who wants to watch something a bit different in GLBT. All the actors in this film make it worthwhile to watch.

Heat Level 2: some sex scenes, some nudity, but nothing graphic.

Grade: 4 ½ Stars

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La vie d'Adèle (French)
Blue is the Warmest Color
2013
Lesbian/ bi/ YA

Adele's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.

This movie was hyped up the wazoo as you all know. I usually head the other direction of anything this hyped and talked about, and luckily I did, because I could watch it without everyone’s opinions in my head about it.

So right to the point, it didn’t do as much for me as I’ve read it did for others. Maybe it’s more due to my age. This is really a YA story and it’s mainly about the passion and pain of a first love. On that level it’s quite good and I can see how this film would hit all the spots for a young person. I probably would have loved this in my 20’s.

I almost didn’t finish it as well. This is a 3 hour movie and I had the feeling the director or camera person must be in love with the lead actress who played Adele because it seemed the camera was on her all. the. time, in every scene and with non-stop shots of her just staring blankly or expressing with her face. To be fair, I think the actress who played Adele did a great job. But I felt about maybe an hour of the film could have been cut because endless scenes of her crying or looking blank seemed too much.

Also, one of the reasons this film was so talked about is that it has one of the longest sex scenes ever in a regular (non porn) movie. For me, it was way too much because it wasn’t the only sex scene. Compared to other sex scenes I saw between women in the few lesbian films I watched before this one, I felt these were just one step below porn, which isn’t bad per se, if you want to watch porn. And while the sex scenes expressed the passion and intensity of the physical attraction between these two women, it didn’t express any of what might have been true love between them.

The other negative; I get tired of “lesbians fuck around and can’t commit for a long time” kind of thing I see and read so often. Emma is living with someone when she meets and has sex with Adele. Emma then starts hanging out with an old girlfriend while living with Adele. Adele cheats on Emma with a guy. I mean seriously, can’t anyone stay together?

On to what I loved. I loved that at least before the women get physical, there is a relationship build-up. They don’t just meet and suddenly they’re in-love, like some of the other films I watched. And the film did make an interesting statement about the difference between passion and love. What Adele and Emma have is a sexually passionate relationship. In the end it makes a statement that sexual passion doesn’t always equal long term love or that it’s enough to sustain a long term relationship.

It’s also a movie that shows the growth of Adele as she goes through all this pain of a first love and then moving beyond, learning and growing up. So this was a positive. 

Even though this movie didn’t float my boat as much as other people, I would still definitely recommend it. It is intense and show sexual passion in all it’s facets.

Heat level: 5+ -numerous, fairly graphic sex scenes with full nudity.

Grade: 3 1/2  Stars


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Cloudburst
2011
Lesbian

The best geriatric lesbian road movie you have ever seen. Thelma and Louise eat your heart out.

I watched about the first 20 or so mins of this film and stopped. DNF. I had high hopes for this film. I love Olympia Dukakis and thought this would be a great lesbian film about older lesbians trying to stick together as they age.

Unfortunately, I felt it was off. Dukakis’ character Stella is rather crass from the get-go. I could see where she was coming from, but it was a bit over the top and off-putting. She’s gruff, but not in that older woman give a shit, cute and amusing way, no, she fights and argues with most everyone with lots of over the top cursing, and needlessly I felt. She pretty much alienates everyone except of course, those that accept her as she is.

It starts out with Dot, Stella’s partner for over 30’s years, breaking a bone after a fall and needing full care for a few weeks. She’s also almost totally blind. Dot’s granddaughter, who unbelievably is totally clueless that her grandmother is a lesbian and who has no real idea about what her grandmother is about, insists it’s time for her to go into an assisted living facility. This enrages Stella who feels she can still take care of her. And also it will mean they cannot be together. The granddaughter also tells Stella she may stay in their house for a little while, until she finds another place (the house was Dot’s mother’s house and so legally, hers), which of course pisses Stella off because it’s THEIR house. 

Where I stopped watching was when the granddaughter tricked Dot into signing some papers giving up her house and getting into the assisted living facility under the guise of keeping Stella from getting charged with any negligence in Dot’s fall. Dot is smiling as she gets into the car with her granddaughter, while Stella is bangs on the car window screaming.

The level of cluelessness all around is also what bugged me. Dot has been with Stella for 30 years and yet she trusts her granddaughter over Stella and doesn’t even try to stop the granddaughter from driving away, wondering why Stella is screaming.

Then, again, Stella’s personality is off-putting to me. As the granddaughter is driving away, she’s calling her a bitch and a fucking cunt, etc. No. Seriously, I have the mouth of a sailor, I drop the f word all the time. But there’s constant cursing with antagonistic personality type and then there’s just cursing here and there.

Maybe if I would have kept watching I might have loved it, but I just couldn’t. I think it probably told the story of many older lesbians who have no legal rights with each other and also who have no place to be together like assisted living, or nursing homes or such, which I think is an important story to tell. I just wish it was told a bit differently or that the beginning didn’t put me off too much to finish it.

Grade: DNF

Movie reviews: A Perfect Ending, I Can't Think Straight, Kiss Me

A Perfect Ending
2012
F/f-/ May-Dec/ Interracial

Rebecca has a very unusual secret, one that not even her best friends know about. The last person on earth she expects to reveal it to is a high priced escort named Paris. What starts as a comedy of errors ends up a uniquely erotic journey. Rebecca's unconventional efforts to find herself are raw, evocative, and often times humorous, but always very real, very human. Sometimes a perfect ending is not what you expect it to be. 

- Written by Soul Kiss Films

You know how you read a book or watch a movie and the story stays with you for days and days and you realize it affected you on a really deep level, this is what A Perfect Ending was for me. It’s gorgeous story both on a human level and on an aesthetic level in how it’s expressed.

There are a crap ton of reviews for this movie, so what I’m going to say about it is how and why it affected me so deeply. The main thing about this movie for me was how beautifully and lovingly it shows human vulnerability and the growth that can happen from a relationship, even a relationship with a complete stranger, and also almost strictly a sexual relationship, in which two people feel totally safe to let themselves open up and heal from personal wounds. It’s also about how we come to terms with what’s important when faced with mortality.

On more practical levels, I love that it featured a middle aged women and a sex worker who is empowered by her choice to be a call girl.

Just for edification, this is not a romance. Nor is it really a lesbian story. Neither of the main characters are lesbians. It’s not about sexual passion either. I do feel this is a love story though and definitely it’s a story about connecting deeply on a human level. But also a warning, ending might disappoint. For me it was more about the ride, the here and now vs forever in what I felt this story was meant to portray.

Rebecca is wealthy middle aged woman who on the surface seems to have it all. And she does-- on the surface. She’s not that unhappy or miserable in general, she just seems to accept the status quo and doesn’t think about her needs or wants too much. There is though, a family secret that has caused her a lot of pain and she cannot get passed it at times.

While out with her best friends, a lesbian couple, she confesses that she’s never felt passion. Nor has she never had an orgasm. This of course shocks her friends who cannot believe it. She further confesses that her marriage is not that great and she rarely has sex. Her friends suggest that maybe she needs a woman to show her what she and her body can feel. They know a madam who runs an agency for call girls and think maybe it would be easier for her if she hired one of those girls to help her with that. She decides to go for it but under the condition that the woman be her own age.

Paris is a young woman who is grieving the loss of her fiancé. She is a call girl by night but an artist by day and she’s definitely not in it for the money only, she’s working out her grief by being a call girl. Maybe it’s her way feel some control about her life during this process. When her older colleague, the one who was supposed to go to Rebecca, asks her to meet Rebecca because she has an emergency, she agrees. When she gets there though, Rebecca is shocked that she ended up with a younger woman, freaks out, and decides not to go through with it. But Paris is very intense and open and accepting and seems to know exactly what Rebecca is about. And Rebecca picks that up. 

Rebecca tries a few more times- getting the older woman second time, whom she decides is so not for her, then asks for Paris again. In 3rd meeting, Paris again tries to seduce her but puts no pressure on Rebecca. Finally, Rebecca decides to go for it and it’s amazing for her.

Here I want to interject that actress Barbara Niven did an amazing job of expressing all those fears of not being appealing or desirable being an older woman with older women body flaws. And kudos to her as an actress, who is a very nice looking woman and has an image to maintain, that she showed her actual physical flaws in this movie. I think that took a lot of courage and added to her actual vulnerability as a character.

The first sex scene is really about Rebecca letting go and trusting. Paris being a much younger, very gorgeous woman has the power in this, but she’s portrayed as sort of an experienced, wise, old soul who really is accepting and understanding. She does feel a connection with Rebecca that is beyond their “business” arrangement, so it’s more for her as well. This connection she feels, maybe because Rebecca is also in a very vulnerable space, helps Paris also let go of her grief in a very intimate way.

In case anyone is wondering—although you can see most of the sex scenes are on youtube—the sex between the women is very loving, soft and even though both are naked- it’s not salacious in any way. In fact, there were moments I felt I didn’t want to watch because it felt like I was intruding on some deeply intimate moments. Not the intimacy of sex alone, but the intimacy of being emotionally raw and open during sex. So if you’d watch for some hot girl on girl sex, this is not the movie.

Other than this, I love how this film was filmed. It has almost a Zen-like feel to it. There are lots of fade in and out scenes with action but no words. Since the two women only meet in the hotel room and don’t talk about their lives with each other, the back story of both women, where they are coming from, is told through most of those silent or brief snippets in between them meeting.

The other characters also added a lot to this film. It’s much more than two women connecting, it’s also about life and love and family from and what that all means for a woman.

All in all this movie grabbed me and I’d definitely recommend it, especially if you’re about two people connecting beyond a sexual orientation or if you’re an older woman who would love a story about having courage to experience new things.

Bonus for this movie is that the actress who played Paris is an out lesbian. Something you don’t see hardly ever in lesbian movies. Mostly it’s straight women playing lesbians. So kudos for getting an actual GLBT person to play that role.

Heat level: 3-4- full nudity and sex scenes, very beautifully and aesthetically filmed. Not salacious in any way.

Grade: 5 Stars

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I Can’t Think Straight (British)
2008
Lesbian/ Multicultural

Adaptation of book by Shamim Sarif
A 2008 romance film adapted from a same name novel about a London-based Jordanian of Palestinian descent, Tala, who is preparing for an elaborate wedding. A turn of events causes her to have an affair and subsequently fall in love with another woman, Leyla, a British Indian. 

- Written by Shamim Sarif

I have another book written by this author of the book this story is based off of that I’ve yet to read, so I decided to watch this film instead of that one.

What I loved about this film is that this is a love story that happens between two people from very different backgrounds that happens despite familial, cultural, political and generational conflicts.

Both Tala and Leyla are young women caught between two worlds. They are both living in England, although Tala goes back and forth between Jordan and England. They’ve been brought up exposed to western culture, but both have homes and parents that try to keep their own traditional homeland culture alive. This is one of the main conflicts for both of them and also maybe what helps them understand each other even though of different cultural backgrounds.

They meet just by chance as Leyla’s boyfriend is a friend of Tala. Tala is on her 4th wedding planning, having walked out on the first 3 fiancés just before the wedding. Tala is rather rebellious and being from a wealthy family, her whims and flightiness are somewhat tolerated.

Leyla is a lot more deep and serious about life. She’s a Muslim in her heart, mind and belief, but she doesn’t always go to prayer with her family. She’s also struggling with the contradictions of being a woman growing up in a western culture while dealing with her mother who is very strong in trying to keep their Indian culture alive. This especially becomes an issue when she comes out to her family.

Both women clash at first as Tala, who grew up as a Palestinian Christian Arab, argues that religion and belief are bogus, which kind of pisses Leyla off. But slowly they come together and become good friends and find themselves attracted to each other both romantically and sexually.

Of course, as with many romances between women when one is currently with a man, the main problem between them becomes that Tala is getting married. In this case, I was rather surprised that Tala, who seems to be the more open as one who bucks the system in many ways, feels very strongly about not coming out and won’t defy her family’s culture. She argues with Leyla that Leyla doesn’t get how hard it would be to do that with her family and in Jordan, where the man she’s to marry is from.

On the other hand, this affair pushes Leyla internally to decide that she can’t or won’t hide who she is to her family and friends anymore. So until Tala is willing to accept who she is, Leyla will not see her.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t feeling the romance so much between these two women even though it’s shown they have had attractions to women in the past. Somehow it felt a bit too insta-love for me, which is maybe why this film didn’t affect me other than I love stories that include characters of other cultures and in which those cultures are part of the story. I think maybe it’s also because I wasn’t feeling Tala as a character. She was a little too superficial and a bit cocky for me for most of the film and I felt her not really that serious about Leyla.

But I did feel that Leyla is really in love with Tala and she, as a character, made the film for me.

Other than that, I felt the film didn’t shy away from the truths or realities of cultural and political clashes. I feel some people might be offended by some of what is expressed, however, I took all at face value and as a true portrayal of what is real for people of those cultures.

I’d definitely recommend this if you’re looking for something a bit different culturally. But as a romance goes, it was just OK.

Heat level: 2 – some sex, no nudity

Grade: 3 ½ Stars

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Kyss Mig -Kiss Me (Swedish)
2011
Lesbian/ bi?

Young woman engaged to be married finds herself in an affair with her stepmother's lesbian daughter.

This was one of the better lesbian movies I saw during my marathon. And I guess from others in the lesbian community they think it’s one of the better ones as well.

Elizabeth and Lassa are an older couple who are about to be married. Both have older, independent children. Lasse had a contentious divorce and his daughter Mia still feels angry with him about what happened. Consequently, she hasn’t visited often. Elizabeth has a grown daughter who is an out lesbian and in a relationship and lives nearby.

At the pre-wedding party, all of them meet for the first time and family drama ensues.

Mia (played by Ruth Vega Fernandez) is sulky and cranky because her father isn’t spending the time with her that she wants. He’s always busy with some job thing. She also shows a pissed/sad face whenever she sees Frida, Elizabeth’s daughter. Frida is light and fun and both Mia’s brother and fiancé are enjoying with Frida. I will say that actress Ruth Vega Fernandez has the perfect sad/pissed off look that worked here.

Anyway, as the days go on, Mia, who is an architect with her fiancé, is to design and extension on a lake house that Lasse and Elizabeth have bought. Lasse was supposed to meet them, but leaves Mia alone with both Elizabeth and Frida, which pisses her off and freaks her out. All of her interactions with Frida show she’s not too happy with this.

However, one night at the cabin, she follows Frida who is out walking in the woods. They barely talk, but then she suddenly kisses Frida. She acts freaked that she did that, but at the same time both women get sexual fairly quickly after that. Of course, as the days go on and they start really falling in love, Frida basically states she will not be a fling for Mia and cuts it off. This forces Mia to confront what she really feels and how far she’s willing to go to be with Frida.

Of course, this new development messes with Mia’s plans for marriage and a lot of pain for all characters in this story happens due to this new love between these women. I felt it was dealt with in a realistic way. I guess there is no easy way to follow your heart when it’s going against everyone you love and the convenience of life at times. But this was one of the better parts of the film.

The only negative thing I will say is that like so many of the lesbian movies I watched these last few weeks, insta-love seemed to be a thing here. I wish there was more of a build-up to why Mia would be attracted to Frida and why Frida would fall so madly in love with Mia that she leaves her long-time girlfriend. There really wasn’t much between them that did show that.

However, what saves this movie is that in the end, I really believed these women want each other badly. Enough that both risk so much to go for it.

For those wondering, this is not really a straight girl falls for a girl and discovers she’s a lesbian. Mia did have a love affair with a woman in the past but felt it freaked her out. So it’s more like lesbian in the closet finally having the guts to be true to herself.

Anyway… this is a definite recommend to watch. I can’t really believe this is the first Swedish lesbian film. Seems like the stereotype that Europeans are more open about stuff like this is not always true.

Heat level: 3-4 Nude sex scene, done showing lots of passion.

Grade: 4 ½ Stars

Review- This Kiss (DVD)

This Kiss (DVD)

2007

Contemporary/ Lesbian character

When childhood best friends Juliet and Lucy reunite in sun-soaked Australia after a decade, they initially find it rather natural to slip into laughter and intimate bonding despite the fact that they barely recognize each another and an unresolved incident from their long-ago past looms over their heads. Of course, the operative word in the previous sentence is "initially."

I knew nothing about what this movie was about. Again, I perused through my library selection and am sort of just watching all the lesbian/bi themed movies available.

I’d love to say that this is a really good movie, but it didn’t quite make it for me. It’s a good film if you’re in the mood for the type of story in which childhood friends reconnect after years apart and go through the process of healing old wounds. On this level, it’s a decent movie.

It suffers too many issues though from stilted over acting to choppy pacing and weird filming. It’s kind of like watching an amateurish camcorder film. However if the story and acting were a bit smoother, I think it would have been a decent look at a coming out story.

What I did like about it was that both characters feel ashamed about something and show a vulnerability that’s very realistic.

Juliet is a high-powered company executive who travels the world. She’s under an extreme amount of stress and is popping pills to cope. Told to take a short holiday, she decides to go back to her home town, look up her old best friend and go to their 10^th year high school reunion.

When Lucy looks out the window sees her old friend getting out of the car, she freaks and refuses to answer the door at first. She’s gained a lot of weight and feels embarrassed. She’s also still living in the house she grew up in supposedly happily married with two children. She eventually invites Juliet in who is shocked to see her friend looking so different.

As the day wears on, the chit chat goes from superficial topics, to reminiscing teenage events to what their lives are like now to really getting into some deep and old wounds from events that happened before Juliet took off.

Major confessions also happen and while Lucy is jealous that Juliet is skinny and gorgeous and living a full life, she also sees that Juliet isn’t living the great life she thinks.

The big reveal, which was no reveal really, was that Juliet shares with Lucy that she’s a lesbian. It’s something Lucy knew when they were teenagers and she’s shocked that Juliet’s making a bit deal of it.

“The kiss” is part of what happens towards that end of their day together and it’s very awkward for various reasons.

This isn’t a lesbian love story. It’s a story about two friends, one who’s a lesbian who is trying to come to terms with it years later and goes back to the one girl to whom she had her first same sex attraction to “confess” and move on.

I give it a skip if you thought you might like to watch it. If the acting were a bit better, or if I actually believed that Juliet was a lesbian and in angst about it—the actress came off as someone out of touch with actually being a lesbian—it would be a good flick to watch.

Heat Level: 0

Grade: Was just OK

Review- The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (DVD)

The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (DVD)

1995

Contemporary/ Lesbian/ YA

While working part-time at her aunt's gas station, defiant tomboy Randy Dean (Laurel Holloman) falls in love with Evie Roy (Nicole Ari Parker), a rich, straight honor student who's already in a relationship. The two girls navigate the magical and confusing world of young love. Writer-director Maria Maggenti's touching and funny debut won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Independent Film in 1996.

This is such a cute, sweet story about two teenage girls falling in love for the first time. It’s done in realistic, honest, way but doesn’t get serious or heavy. Both actresses did such a great job. For once I believed both women were actually gay or attracted to each other unlike some other films I’ve seen recently.

Randy is a endearing character. She’s a tomboy/butch girl who is basically out in her school. Everyone gossips about her behind her back or even in front of her and she’s basically an outcast. But she does have a gay guy friend and she takes her situation with an ease that’s not typical of kids bullied or teased for being different, which I liked. She accepts who she is and while it does bother her that she’s picked on, she doesn’t let it overwhelm her and even tells people to fuck off. She’s also struggling with many other things in her life. She’s failing in school and might not be able to graduate and she lives with her aunt who’s trying to keep a tight leash on her.

Evie is the complete opposite. She’s one of the cool girls, popular, and has intellectual interests. She listens to classical music and reads poetry and lives with all the creature comforts that being upper middle class offers. You’d think she’d be really happy but she’s struggling. She’s not really feeling it with her boyfriend, who’s actually portrayed as the more emotional of the two, and there are hints that her over-achieving mother puts some pressure on her to be perfect all the time.

Both girls meet when Evie is worried that something’s wrong with her car and pulls into the gas station that Randy’s aunt owns and which Randy works in. Evie recognizes her as a school mate and they chat a bit. In school, they meet up again in the girls bathroom by accident when Randy goes in for a smoke, pissed off that she’s been chastised again by a teacher, and Evie comes in crying after having a spat with her boyfriend. They get detention for smoking and they start to form a friendship from that.

The rest of the movie is basically about their tentative coming together first as friends and then as lovers. It’s very poignant in parts, particularly when Randy confesses that she wants to hold Evie’s hand in a restaurant. Those first moments when things have started shifting in a relationship between two people from a friendship to a budding love is captured so beautifully and innocently.

Of course, there are kinks to this new love story. Randy lives with her aunt, her aunt’s girlfriend and her aunt’s ex-girlfriend who needed a place to stay. So she’s in house of all lesbians, which you’d think would be a good thing. However, they don’t have money, which causes friction. They’re a close knit, expressive group though compared to Evie’s staid home life. Shockingly, Randy’s aunt is not thrilled with this development even though they all know Randy’s a lesbian as well. And she’s pissed off with Randy for letting her grades drop and insists that she stop hanging out with this girl.

And Evie, whom I give a lot of credit to in this story since she has a lot to lose by being courageous and befriending the school outcast, is so open minded if a bit innocently naïve about how her friends will react to this new friendship. It’s not the reaction she thought or hoped for. But she doesn’t let that affect her feelings or desire to stick with Randy, which I thought was admirable.

The only thing about this film that went a bit hokey was the ending. It was a bit over the top, but it also explained a lot more of how and why the girls found themselves attracted to each other, the family dynamics and so on that partially formed who they were as people comes to a head giving the viewer a more intimate view of who the girls are. It was also funny and a sort of typical, gloss over reality for a light--- unrealistic love overcomes all--- American ending.

I definitely recommend this movie. It’s an all-around feel good movie and shows a young, budding lesbian love in a, fun, positive, and non-judgmental way.

Heat Level – 2  There’s some nudity in one sex scene. It’s a gorgeously, sensually choreographed sex scene that doesn’t try to titillate in sexual way as much as in a loving way.

Grade A-

Review- Drifting Flowers- DVD

Drifting Flowers
DVD 2009
Chinese/ GLBT/ Lesbian

OFFICIAL SELECTION, BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL! Teddy Award-winning Director Zero Chou (Spider Lilies) weaves three poetic tales as the lesbians in Drifting Flowers seek their true identity. In the first story, Jing, a blind singer, falls in love with her band s tomboy accordionist Diego. In another time and place, Lily, an elderly lesbian and Yen, her gay friend, create an unexpected bond and support each other in a time of crisis. Finally, we see Diego before she joined the band, when as a teenager she came to grips with her identity.

I saw this film in my library selection and thought the cover was gorgeous. I’m also partial to Asian films and it’s rare to see an Asian film with a GLBT subject matter so it was a no-brainer to watch it. This film was touching, sad, poignant and different at the same time.

The first story is about a blind woman, Jing, who is taking care of her much younger sister. She’s a lounge singer and social services is trying to take her sister away since she keeps late hours and the sister is not doing well at school. Diego, a butch lesbian who plays the accordion as background music for Jing, befriends both of them and tries to help. Jing accepts Diego’s friendship and her love without question.

What’s interesting in that story is that the younger sister, who is about 9 years old, becomes jealous and sullen whenever Diego shows Jing any attention since she’s fallen in love with Diego. And when she sees them kissing, she starts acting out and treats her sister cruelly. In the end, social services convince Jing that her sister is better off with a foster family who love her and can give her good home.

There’s no love story here, just a brief glimpse into Diego and Jing’s long relationship as the ending of the story shows the younger sister coming back as a young woman. What’s compelling about it is how it’s told and the interesting relationship dynamics between the characters.

The second story was a bit confusing and vague, but just as compelling. Lily, a lesbian in love with a woman, Ocean, and a gay guy who is with Yen, get married to please her family. Both couples are shown in the beginning at the wedding laughing at having fooled the families. In the next scene it’s maybe 40 years later and Lily has dementia. Yen has gotten AIDS and his partner started cheating on him, blowing him off. Having nowhere to go, he looks for Lily. Lily, in her mind, thinks Yen is Ocean and keeps telling him to stop dressing like a butch because it will cause problems for them. So she dresses him like a woman all the time. It’s clear that she has lost Ocean for whatever reason and the grief has destroyed her.

This story was rather sad but very human. Two lost souls trying to find some peace in familiarity with each other. It’s never really clear though what happened to Ocean, nor why Yen would tolerate being dressed as a woman since he gets beat up in the park for doing so. However, it’s still an interesting story on the realities of being a gay person in that culture.

In the third story we get the back story of Diego. She’s a young girl, maybe in her teens, and she’s clearly butch. Her mother tries to get her to wear a bra but she feels disgusted at having breasts and binds them with a long strip of cloth.

Her family is in the “puppet” business, a sort of carnival side show thing and they are having a hard time keeping it going. The competition has started pimping his daughter out as a sort of semi stripper/singer in place of the puppets to get business and it works. Diego goes to the show to watch and is called on stage to tease/seduce, the girl thinking Diego is a young man. The two girls hit it off, and the other girl sexual seduces an inexperienced Diego.

I liked this story mainly because Diego’s butch-ness is accepted to some degree by her mother and family. Her mother tells the brother that she would like to give some of the family money to Diego since she realizes that Diego isn’t “normal” and will never find a husband to take care of her.

What was also good in this story is the Diego herself accepts who she is. She doesn’t care what people think and she doesn’t try to conform. This gave her an air of innocence as she goes about just being who she is.

All in all it’s a good film. There’s not a lot of actual relationship development; it’s really just snippets in characters’ lives. But it does give an interesting and maybe realistic portrayal of a gay person’s life in China.

Heat Level- 0- a few kissing scenes

Grade- B+

Review- My Summer of Love (DVD)

My Summer of Love (DVD)
2004
Contemporary/ f/f/ Drama

In the Yorkshire countryside, working-class tomboy Mona (Press) meets the exotic, pampered Tamsin (Blunt). Over the summer season, the two young women discover they have much to teach one another, and much to explore together.
Life is so cosmic sometimes. Last Dec. during my school break, I ordered some DVDs from the library and thought I had gotten them all. Well, I just finished my last quarter of school and there was an email in my box that a film I had on hold came in. What? But just in time for me to have something to watch as I take a few days before I start booking it on job hunting.

Anyway… this was a strange and intriguing film. Certainly not the usual fare in coming of age stories. Set in a quiet and small village in Yorksire, there’s a quiet, stark, intensity to this film including the acting that added a lot of dimension to what was not much dialogue or action.

This is basically the story of what seems to be two girls who come together out of both boredom and a need to have an ally. They’re both a bit rebellious, different and seem to be lost. However, there is a shocking twist to the end that turned this movie into more of a psychological portrayal of sociopathic behavior, which made this film for me.

Mona is a young woman who’s basically lost her whole family. She never knew her father, and her mother died of cancer. All who’s left is her brother. He was a bit of a rebel-rouser, always getting into fights and getting arrested, but while doing time in jail, he found Jesus. To the dismay of Mona, he turns their little family pub into a meeting place for the local born again Christians, living solely for Christ and preaching non-stop.

This drives Mona insane who feels she’s lost her only family and that he’s a phony. Just floating through life, she surreptitiously meets Tamsin, a local rich girl who’s family lives on a huge estate on the hill overlooking town.

Tamsin is home from boarding school for the summer and the girls hook up and start hanging out. Tamsin is just the diversion and friend that Mona needs since she pays attention to her and they seem to have a lot in common despite their different economic and social backgrounds. Mona can relate to Tamsin with her tales of woe that her sister has died of anorexia, sobbing as she recounts that story and the fact that her parents ignore her. Tamsin is also kind of intense and unique, not the usual fair in a young girl, which intrigues Mona.

Their relationship turns sexual and they egg each other on to destructive behavior. Seemingly in a world of their own, they promise to love each other forever. That is until…

All I can say is that I loved this film. It’s so offbeat and odd. The sexual relationship between the girls develops quite naturally, although this part of the film was presented more as a side bar than used as a titillation factor. It’s more about creating an insular, private world in which both girls feel they are safe and have someone who gets them.

Emily Blunt’s acting made this film. Often she just looks or stares, saying nothing, which keeps you wondering what Tamsin is about. And her acting, Tamsin acting is done really well.

If you’re in the mood for something unique, psychologically intriguing with a girl/girl theme, this movie is perfect.

Heat Level: 2- some sex scenes, but no nudity or graphic portrayals.

Grade: A-

Review- When Night is Falling (DVD)

When Night Is Falling (DVD)

1995

Drama/Lesbian

95 mins.

Successful in her teaching job at a conservative religious college, Camille (Pascale Bussières) looked forward to marrying her adoring, minister boyfriend (Henry Czerny) and settling down to the conventions of family and career. But a chance encounter with a beautiful, irresistibly sensuous young female circus performer named Petra (Rachael Crawford) is about to transform Camille s predictable life into an electrifyingly erotic adventure.

Captivated by Petra s impulsive sexuality and passionately free spirit, Camille is drawn into a world whose existence she never dared imagined: A world of hypnotic sensuality, rapturous self-discovery and exquisite erotic pleasure.

Now, walking an emotional high-wire between the familiar past and the forbidden future, Camille must choose between the love she can t forget... and the desire she can t resist.

This is a gorgeous, gorgeous film. It’s got a unique, off beat, erotic ambiance to it that you don’t see too often in film. And it’s one of the most beautifully portrayed love stories between two women that I’ve seen so far.

The blurb to this film is right on target so I’ll go from there.

The first thing that grabbed me about this film was the almost quiet way in which the women in this story get together. You can feel an underlying controlled passion between them, but it develops in a slow, gentle and seductive way. This gives time to see what these two women are about as individuals, but also how they come to terms with what they are feeling. It felt natural and real.

Camille is almost stoic. She’s following what she’s been taught to follow, that is a fundamentalist Christian POV of life. But it’s clear from the fact that she’s not been too overjoyed about marrying her long time lover and has been putting him off that she’s not feeling too passionate about her life. Something is missing, not right, but she doesn’t know what that is.

After she meets Petra, something in her is awakened. I loved that she’s very hesitant, even denying it to some degree, while allowing herself to open up to Petra at the same time. She doesn’t run from what she’s starting to feel, which is so against her upbringing and life philosophy, but she doesn’t jump right in there with Petra either.  

Petra, on the other hand, really wants Camille and puts it out there many times. Often it’s a bit too much for Camille and Petra backs off realizing that Camille is struggling with this whole new aspect of her life. But Petra sticks with it until Camille come around. I loved how she shows just enough to let Camille know that she’s desired, pushing it just a little, but at the same time subtly seducing her by just hanging in there and not walking away.

The scenes between the women are just exquisite. The love making is sensuous and tender and highly erotic. The backdrop of the Petra’s life in the circus, along with the music, colors, ambiance, added so much to the sensory aspect to this film. The sexual aspect between Camille and Petra came across as something deep and primal. The kind of sex you have when you’re deeply in love and only that person can complete something in you. It’s just stunning.

There are some other issues in this film. It is painful to see Martin, Camille’s long time lover, who really loves Camille, go to pieces. This isn’t one of those nasty husband/boyfriend stories so the women gets what she needs with a woman. He’s a good guy. A guy who is willing to let this affair go to be with her. It’s just that Camille doesn’t feel strongly towards him and it’s kind of sad.

But I did like that Camille is honest with herself and the minister/ dean of the Christian college she teaches at. I liked that the religious part wasn’t heavy handed; rebelling against it is not used as an excuse for Camille to be attracted to Petra. Both Martin and the minister kind of change their tunes a bit and are willing to let it go and forgive her as opposed to kicking her out of the school and church and or leaving her because of this affair. This made Camille’s love for Petra and her decision to be with Petra a choice. This is how I wish to see love between women portrayed.

All in all I highly recommend this film. I might even buy it, it was that amazing for me. If you really want to see a real love story between women, done in an exotic, sensual and unusual setting, one that quietly seduces you without flash or trying for shock value, this is the film to see.

Heat level: 4- a few naked sex scenes both m/f and f/f. Fairly graphic, but very sensually and tastefully done.

Grade: A++

Trailer: 

Review- French Twist (DVD)

French Twist (DVD)

1996

French (in French Language)/Comedy/m-f, f-f/ Lesbian

104 mins.

Sassy, sexy, and utterly outrageous, this comedy treat received outstanding critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award nomination! Saucy suburban housewife Loli is furious when she discovers her playboy husband is a wild womanizer who has been cheating on her left and right for years! But things take an unusually funny turn when the van of a tough-talking, tender-hearted woman named Marijo breaks down in front of Loli's house! From then on, expect the hilariously unexpected as Marijo and Loli's relationship develops into much more than just a friendship ... and between the two of them, they devise the perfect revenge!

Hilarious, but totally improbable story that uses tons of stereotypes for comedic affect that would never go over if American made. This is what I love about French movies, they go places you’d never see in American films that I find refreshing. French Twist has some really funny, laugh out loud, moments and I enjoyed it even if it was pretty out there.

Loli and Laurent have a nice life in French suburbia. Or so Loli thinks. Laurent is boinking every female that moves, except for her, but she’s oblivious to that. She caught him cheating on her once in the past and forgave him after he said he wouldn’t do it again.

One day, the car of a woman, Marijo, breaks down in front of their house. Marijo asks if she can call to get help and in the meantime fixes a blocked drain for Loli. Marijo is the classic stereotype of a butch lesbian. Even Loli’s son asks about the “man” in the house. Marijo and Loli spend the day chatting and talking about their lives and having a few drinks and things get a little more intimate than either expected.

I will say on this point that Loli seems to be the free and open type and I totally bought that she would be open to advances by Marijo, even though Marijo is older and not a particularly hot physically. Marijo has a certain warmth and easy vibe around her and she rather gently comes on to Loli, which Loli responds to very easily.

Where the fun starts is that Laurent comes home to this “diesel dyke” and wants her out of the house right now because she’s well, a “dyke” and he’s a homophobe and doesn’t like butch dykes. (dyke the word he uses constantly) Loli convinces him to let her stay for a while because she likes Marijo.

To pay back for the help, Marijo insists on taking Loli and Laurent out to dinner and he invites his best friend who wants to meet Marijo thinking it will be fun to mess with her. I know this sounds awful and it is to some degree, but there's pay back. They make continuous offensive homophobic jokes and say things like “well, talking man to man” to Marijo, which she laughs off because she knows something about Loli, they don’t. Heh.

Each of the characters were overtly stereotypical stereotypes for a reason I thought though. Exaggerating the characters’ negative traits do make it easy to root for the wronged character at any point because it’s a fast lane to stir up emotions within the viewer.

Anyway… at the restaurant, Laurent catches Loli and Marijo playing footsy under the table and the shit hits the fan. Suddenly he realizes that his wife can find love with someone else and that he could seriously loose her. TO A “DISGUSTING BUTCH WOMAN!” He can’t believe it; he’s incredulous. How could this happen to him?!, HIM?!!! The tables are turned and this pisses him off. 

He drags Loli off then kicks her out of the house. Then he laments, freaking out to his bud, “for men cheating is nothing, nothing, just fucking. But for women, that’s another story.” Maybe you can see why at this point it does satisfy something for those people in the audience who’ve been cheated on or wronged by an asshole.

The rest of the movie is about how these three people try to get along in this new situation. Loli is not about to lose Marijo who gives her love and attention and whom she’s fallen in love with, Laurent keeps trying to find ways to get rid of Marijo, but puts up with her while trying to win back Loli. And Marijo keeps sticking around because she wants Loli. 

There are lots of twists and turns to the plot, some of which are ridiculous—or it would be the rare people who could manage it. But it is funny and entertaining with the tables being turned on each of the characters at different points. The power shifts often and while in the beginning it’s more about revenge, real feelings develop and mess with these characters.

Eventually we see that the characters don’t totally fit those stereotypes. Laurent and his friend are typical macho, homophobes, but Laurent actually does love Loli and cares about his family. And Loli is not the typical ignored wife without power either, she’s pretty feisty and is willing to exert that power to her advantage. Marijo looks like the gruff, male-ish, aggressive butch lesbian on the surface, and yet she has a huge heart and is really soft and feminine inside, crying over the hurt she’s causing, even over pain Laurent is feeling.

The ending will be a bit surprising to everyone. It’s an ending that would never be accepted by an American audience. And this is another reason why I love European movies. They don’t take the typically moral or traditional viewpoint often and usually end with characters living outside the box. It’s a nice fantasy at any rate.

Who made this film for me was Marijo. The actress who played her was the writer and director of this film. I thought she brought some levity and complexity and humor to what is the typical cheating husband, neglected wife story. The actress who played Loli was pretty amazing as well.

About the lesbian part of this film, I read a few reviews of this movie on Amazon and many just didn’t believe that Loli, who’s a beautiful woman, would go with Marijo who’s not that beautiful and kind of sexually unappealing. But I believed it. One because Marijo is very loving and tender with Loli. It’s something that women want and respond to from any sex. And second, Loli is very passionate, easily following her heart without judgments. And third, I personally found Marijo appealing as a character and as a women. There are a few very nice scenes between the women, naked, in the bathtub or in bed. Or just lying together holding each other and it’s clear they really feel something deeply for each other. It's not erotic though.

I liked that it wasn’t totally the lonely wife gets with a woman story to get back at her man. Loli really loves Marijo and it’s clear that it’s painful for her to lose her. So she chooses to be with Marijo even after Laurent starts acting right and making it up to her. The only time she falters and gets pissed is when Marijo’s old lover shows up. That was an interesting twist as well. And thankfully this didn’t go the way of the “lesbians don’t fall for straight girls, they will break your heart by using you for a brief fling.” Nor did it take the route of preferring the m/f relationship over the lesbian one. There is an happy ending for all.

For those readers of this blog who like the f/f/m polyamorous story, this might make you happy, even if Marijo will never really be a lover to Laurent. It’s a very rare story on that level anyway. I highly recommend this film for the humor and for the fact that it does break all kinds of stereotypes by the end.

Heat level: 2- Actress who played Loli is naked through a lot of the film and there are some m/f and f/f naked in bed scenes. And one very sweet naked bathtub scene with Loli and Marijo.

Grade: A

Review- Saving Face (DVD)

Saving Face (DVD)

2004

Drama/Comedy/Chinese American/ Lesbian

91 mins.

In English and Chinese (w/subtitles)

When 48-year-old widow Hwei-Lan Gao (Joan Chen) informs her less-than understanding father she's pregnant, he banishes her from Flushing until she remarries or proves Immaculate Conception. With nowhere else to go, Hwei-Lan moves in with her grown daughter, Wil (Michelle Krusiec), a Manhattan doctor who doesn't want a roommate, especially since she's met Viv (Lynn Chen), her sexy young lover. So Wil does what any dutiful child with an expectant, unmarried mother on her hands would do: she proceeds to set Hwei-Lan up with every eligible bachelor in town.

Oh yeah, this is what I’m talking about. Finally, a cute, humorous film that portrays a lesbian falling in love story realistically including all the family issues around it. This was a particularly endearing film because it’s set within the Chinese American community, which includes three generations trying to live different levels of old country cultural values within a vastly different American culture.

Wil is a young surgeon who has a brilliant career ahead of her. Every week she goes to Flushing (NY), insisted by her mother, for the weekly dance, where everyone goes to hook-up, find marriageable partners for their kids, and do some gossiping. Her single mother has been trying to set her up with a good guy, but she just goes through the motions every week because she’s gay and is afraid to tell her mother.

Hwei-Lan, Will’s mother, has her own little secret. She’s pregnant, to the shock of the community and shame of her traditional father who kicks her out of their house. She’s been living there since her husband died 17 years ago and has never found another suitable partner. (By the way, Joan Chen is freaking hot in this film. She’s one of those rare women who seems to get better looking with age.) Having nowhere to go, she moves in with Wil to Wil’s dismay.

In the meantime, stressed out Wil is slowly getting seduced by Viv, the daughter of the chief of surgery and Wil’s boss. Viv is very attracted to Wil and manages to get her into her bed, eventually, since Wil is a lot more cautious. They see each other as often as possible and their feelings start growing for each other. Unfortunately, while Viv comes from a more open-minded family who accept that she’s gay, Wil is reluctant to come out to her more traditionally inclined family and this causes some friction between them.

To get her place back and have her own life, Wil starts setting her mom up with potential husbands since it’s not proper for a woman to live alone. Those scenes by the way were hilarious as Hwei-Lan goes out on date after date with all kinds of losers. However, this won’t change the fact that Wil needs to come to terms with her love for Viv and coming out to her family.

What stood out for me in this film was the warmth, love, and eventual family/community acceptance that came through. I love it when people are shown to let go of, or at least put to the side for further introspection, their biases, beliefs, cultural mores when the reality of life butts in. 

Saving Face flowed so nicely showing just everyday people trying to deal with events that throw them out of their comfort zone. In this case, they all rise to the challenge without it coming across as phony for the sake of a feel good movie.

The acting is very natural and there’s a good feel for all these characters and what they’re about. The writing is clean and dialogue witty and poignant as well. The writer/director of this film, Alice Wu, is a Chinese American and also a lesbian and she did right by all groups, staying genuine and never stepping into stereotypes without sensitivity.

The love scenes between Wil and Viv are very sexy, light and naturally done. The lesbian thing was integrated nicely, meaning it wasn’t the main focus of the film but wasn’t treated as minor either. Nor did it seem to be thrown in as a focal point for comedic affect, like in Kissing Jessica Stein.

And did I mention Joan Chen? LOL Yes, I’ve been in love with her since Twin Peaks and The Last Emperor. She was amazing in this film. Everyone was.

I absolutely recommend seeing Saving Face. Not only for the lesbian aspect, but for the fun and charm of it. It’s a sweet, beautiful film all around.

Heat level: 2/3- Some light nude sex scenes between women.

Grade: A+